


4/4 Measure

by ried (riiiied)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: M/M, Trick or Treat: Chocolate Box, Trick or Treat: Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-22 10:14:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12479248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riiiied/pseuds/ried
Summary: Off-season: the time to decide on music for your new programs, improve on your tech content, and fool around in front of the camera.





	4/4 Measure

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IdleLeaves](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IdleLeaves/gifts).



While figure skating had started becoming more popular in Kazakhstan following the medals Otabek obtained in major senior-level international competitions, there was still practically no other skater competing on the same level as himat the time – sure, some of the children that has started lessons at his home rink had major potential, but the fact was that it'd be years before they'd even be age-eligible for senior competitions. His coach decided that it was important that he spend some time practicing with other athletes of the same level, which was why, that off-season, he was over in the States, training at one of the clubs he used to skate at when he was still going from club to club, country to country for his training. 

And it also happened to be the club that Leo trains in as well.

“Okay, as requested, as wide a selection from my collection as I can load up into this thing.”

Leo took a seat on the bench next to Otabek, offering him one side of the earphones. “Thanks,” Otabek said, accepting the earphone. After “playing it safe” with his musical choices during the Olympic season that just ended (which, given his bronze, could be considered as a correct choice), he wanted to experiment with something new for the following season. Except that he hadn't decided what that something would be yet, and who better to ask for musical advice from?

Leo tapped on the start button, and a log, grungy bass sound came in from the earphones. “I was going to pick something closer to what I've heard of your sets, but since you said none of what you've tried to pick really worked so far, I decided to go for something a bit darker. What do you think?”

“...It's good. But I don't know if my coach will let me skate to something like this outside of galas or shows.” It was true that he had some freedom in choosing the music for his program, but he'd still have to discuss it with his coach and choreographer.

“Figures,” Leo said with a bitter laugh. His fingers slid across the screen, the music changing to a lighter, peppy arrangement. “What about this one? Musicals are pretty standard as far as skating program music goes, I guess, but this one's from a local production that gives a pretty neat twist to the songs.” Not getting a response from Otabek, he added, “…no good either?”

“Not quite, I guess.” It wasn't a bad piece of music, but not what he was looking for.

“Well, if you're really going for 'far out there'...” When Leo finished flicking through the library, the first sound to come out was a dissonant, metallic clanging that some might not have even considered music. The noise eventually settled into a more orderly rhythm, though not one that Otabek would describe as particularly melodious.

“...what genre do you even call this?”

Leo let out a laugh, clear and unrestrained. “Pretty much everyone I've showed this one to have asked something similar. Well, considering the first one was already out, I pretty much expected this one would be too.”

“Then why?” Otabek asked, merely curious.

“Sorry. It's just that, the first time I listened to this track, I was super weirded out too. But when I listened to it again and again, I started to find it… fascinating, I guess? And I'm now kinda fond of it. And I think I want more people to be able to hear that as well.” 

“Ah.” Now that he had gotten past the initial surprise, Otabek figured that 'fascinating' was apt to describe the track, noise and dissonance and all. Definitely not going to be on his competitive programs, and maybe not even a show program, but he couldn't say he was disappointed about having to listen to it.

“Oh yeah, we're here to find some music for your new programs,” Leo said, reminding himself of their original goal. “Let me switch to something actually usable...”

As the previous track cut off and a different tune started, Otabek thought that even if he didn't find the songs for his new programs this time, he still wouldn't have wasted his time.

* * *

“So, did anything strike your fancy yet this time?”

“I like a lot of them. But there are so many of them, I'm still not sure what to choose.”

“Hey, you're the one who asked me to bring as wide a variation of songs as I can.”

“No, thanks for that, genuinely. But I don't want to choose any random thing.”

“Yeah, no problem with that. I don't mind doing this, anyway.”

The next day, during a short break break at the rink. Otabek has asked if Leo could bring him another selection, which he did. And while it was true that he was still yet to decide on what his program music would be, part of him also enjoyed being able to discover new music this way.

“Let's try this one. 'White noise' ambient is probably too much, but some ambient techno or electronica might work with that you're going for.”

Leo had always been passionate about all kinds of music – Otabek had known of that from when they first shared a rink years ago, back when they were still in juniors. But the previous day and here, he was surprised again, not just by the sheer breadth of Leo's collection, but also by the fervor behind his explanation of each new track, the smile he couldn't hide as he announced that the next one was one of his favorites, the enthusiastic nods when Otabek gave small approvals to any of the songs. At times, it made him almost forget to even pay attention to the songs.

“...Otabek? Hey?”

Suddenly noticing Leo's hand waving in front of him, Otabek jolted out of his thoughts. “Ah. Sorry. Did you say something?”

“Don't worry, it's actually nice seeing you get into the songs so much you didn't hear me,” Leo said with a small laugh, and Otabek didn't correct him. “I was just asking if you think any of this batch would work.”

“...I'll have to think about it a bit more – ah, your coach's calling for you.”

“Ah, damn, forgot that we're not done with practice for the rest of the day. Anyway, just think about it and tell me if you pick something out, okay?”

After some preparations, they were both back on the ice, with their respective instructors accompanying them In the middle of going through his elements, Otabek caught out of the corner of his eyes Leo practicing a jump in a suspended harness, each time ending with landings that would've resulted in falls were he doing them without the harness.

“How's the new jump going?” He asked later, when Leo had taken of the harness and was about to leave the ice.

“Well…” Leo looked away before he answered, heaving an exasperated sigh. “The quad toe still isn't happening after all this time, so my coach thought trying the sal might give different results. Some people do get the quad sal before the toe, after all. I'm not sure it's going as well as we wanted it too, though.”

Leo was somewhat of an outlier among the athletes near the top of the fields in that he managed to get to where he was without having mastered a quadruple jump, relying on high marks on his execution and components instead. Still, no one can ignore the rapid development of technical content in the sport in recent years, particularly among the men. And it wasn't like Leo hadn't started before this either – he had been seen trying out quadruple toe loops during official practices for competitions. And yet, he had never actually landed one cleanly in a competitive program.

“Sometimes I wonder if there's a secret everybody's in on about how to jump quads, but I'm left out alone,” Leo said with a dry laugh and a frown. “It's not like I don't practice as much as everyone else, I don't even know why I can't do it.”

Otabek wanted to say that he understood, but he couldn't fully claim to – learning the quads that he had was far from effortless, but he did obtain them earlier and at a faster rate than Leo was going, and while the success rate definitely hadn't been 100%, he was landing them quite reliably in competitions. But after the favors he'd asked of Leo, he felt that helping him out a bit here would be fair.

“...want me to tell you next time?”

“Eh?”

“...it's not actually some shared secret, of course. But I can show you how I do my quads at the next practice.” After a pause, “I can't do any of the more difficult ones like flip or lutz, though.”

Leo's initial look of confusion dissolved into a laugh at the last line. “Here I am, struggling with quad toes and salchows, and you're already jumping to flips and lutzes? Nah, of course that's fine. Are you sure you want to help me with this, though? I may start overtaking your scores if I actually start landing those quads,” he said, ending with a slight mirk.

“Don't worry, I'm working on my scores in my own way too. And you can think of this as thanks for helping me with the music.”

“Well, if you say so. I'll be putting you to your words tomorrow, then.” Tapping on Otabek's shoulder, Leo stepped off the ice and went to gather his belongings.

For a few moments, Otabek stood still, slightly surprised by the contact. Somehow, he found himself looking forward to the next day more than usual.

* * *

“Were you really okay walking out here?”

“I only bruised my knee, not broke a bone. And this place's close. I'll be allowed back on the ice tomorrow, anyway.”

A café near the rink, in the afternoon on their designated practice off-day. Leo had been taking a few days off the ice after an awkward fall during jump practice, and so Otabek asked if he was all right to meet-up elsewhere on the next off day.

“Sorry,” Otabek said.

“For what? I already told you I'm fine walking here.”

“For your fall.”

Leo raised an eyebrow. “That was completely on me, though. You weren't even remotely close by.”

“But you were trying to do what I told you about how I do my quads, right?”

“...true. But that's still not your fault, and it didn't turn out to be anything too serious, so don't beat yourself out about it.” Leo then fished out his phone and earphones out of his pockets. “Anyway, on to the main reason we're here. Are you sure you're okay, still looking for songs to skate to at this point?”

“I only have the free program's yet to choose, though.” For his short, he selected one of the electronica tracks Leo showed him – calm enough to get his coach's okay, but also pushing the envelope of the types of program he'd been doing up to then.

“Fair enough, Are you sure you still need me at this point, though? With all that I've shown you, you probably already have a good idea of what you like and how to look for more of something similar,” Leo said, slightly teasing.

Otabek could've laughed it off as well, and the rest of the afternoon could go as expected. But faced with the question, he found himself wanting to own up to his reasons. “Yes. I do still want you to show me the songs.”

“...eh?” Leo did a double-take as he realized the answer wasn't quite what he expected.

“You always look so passionate about introducing and describing each track, in telling me what you like about each one and getting me to understand the same feeling. It's like the way you skate your programs. I think I'll prefer this over looking for the songs myself.”

Otabek didn't realize how much he was staring until Leo averted his gaze, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “Um… thanks. Some people find it weird how I get really into pretty much anything, so, uh, it's nice that someone thinks it's a good thing. A-anyway,” he said as he went to fiddle with the earphones in a rush,”l-let's get started with it. Which one was I planning to play first – ah, this one. So this one's –“ His words were cut off by Otabek's hand reaching for the earphones. “A-ah, sorry, I forgot to even give it to you,” he ended with a forced laugh.

“Don't worry about it.” And yet, he himself was starting to worry about what he had just said before. “So, what about this track?”

“Hm? Oh, right. So. I just found this band recently. Um, the instrumentals are, eh, pretty standard I guess, but I really liked the vocals. They're… they're… well, you can hear for yourself. They're… pretty powerful. Yeah.”

Otabek couldn't imagine that Leo would actually bring a track that he couldn't easily find good things to say about, and a lack of vocabulary definitely wasn't a reason either. Which meant he only had his big mouth to blame. Pity, since the song was actually good too. Scrambling to find words to break the tension, he blurted out, “So. How do you usually choose the music for your programs?”

“A-ah. Yeah. Um, I kinda just pick something I like, I guess? Something I want more people to hear about.”

"...is that really it?"

“...actually, sometimes it's a bit more than that," Leo said after a pause. "Like two seasons ago. That time, the song for my short was one that I listened to a lot during some pretty rough times. And I thought, it'd be nice if I could do the same for others with it. And for my short this year, I'm taking a song from a musical I watched some months ago and loved. Obviously a three-minute-something routine isn't going to replace actually watching the whole thing, but I still wanted to share that little bit, you know?” The awkwardness from before fully disappearing into a smile, he looked straight forward and said, “I hope you find what you want to share, too.”

* * *

When practice started again the next Monday, Otabek had his selection for his free skate, and with Leo also back in, he had to share.

“Sorry I didn't end up using something that you showed me for the long program,” he saidd, holding out his phone as Leo leaned in towards the speakers.

“Don't worry about it, I enjoyed sharing all of them with you either way. So, what song is this? There are some pretty unfamiliar instruments I can hear in there.”

“It's a fusion remix of traditional Kazakh tunes, done by a local indie band back in Almaty. I'm what I am today in equal parts due to my homeland and all the other places I've stayed in during my training, and a mix like this is what I feel can help me express that.”

“That sounds really cool,” Leo said with a wide smile. “I can't wait to see it.”

“The choreo is still being worked on, but it should be done soon.” Saying that, Otabek stood up, packed his phone into his bag, and walked to the entrance of the rink – they were still in the middle of practice day, and it was almost time time to wrap up their short break.

“Ah, hold on a bit.” Turning back, Otabek spotted Leo grabbing his phone and a stand for it, setting it up on top of one side of the rink. “While we're here, we should make a video at least once.”

“Of us training?”

“A few cuts of those would be cool too. But also, just playing around. That's what the followers would like, especially since you're here too.”

Otabek only opened his social media accounts once in a while, but he just remembered that Leo updates his on a much more frequent basis. He'd seen some of the videos he uploaded, and he did remember some practice videos which did have as much fooling around as serious practice. “So, what do you want me to do?”

“Hm… anything goes, I guess?”

'Anything goes' - not as easy as it sounds, in a way. Otabek slid back and forth, going around the rink, but trying to say attention at his position relative to the phone recording him made his already monotone moves even more awkward.

“...in your defense, I did say 'anything goes',” Leo said, slightly wincing. “Well, I guess I'd give an example here.”

Playing around with the settings before he slid in front of the camera, Leo then began his routine – some crossosvers, building up to small double jumps & short spins, but quickly turning into sillier dance-like moves, arms waving around as he slid up and down the rink.

Leo waved from the middle of the rink. “Come on, Otabek, join in!”

“...and do what, exactly?”

“Just follow my lead.”

That lead turned out to be doing bunny hops with appropriately bunny-like gestures, tiptoeing on their toepicks, exaggerated Ina Bauers & cantilevers, and a bunch of on-the-spot jokey choreography, among others.

“See? Easy, right?” Leo said, sliding as he still remained in-pose.

“I guess it's – oof.”

Leo nearly went down on the ice after a misstep, but Otabek was close enough and held him up from under his arms. He heaved up, helping Leo back to his feet, and for a while, they stood like that, almost as if hugging from behind.

“Ah… thanks for that.”

“...no problem.”

Following a slightly awkward pause, Leo slightly shrugged his shoulders, prompting Otabek to let go. “W-well, I guess that's enough footage. Time to go back to serious practice.”

“...yeah.” Otabek looked on as Leo tidied up his filming setup, not being able to brush the tiny feeling in him that wished the contact had lasted a bit longer.

* * *

A few weeks later, at a domestic inter-club summer competition.

It could be the debut of of various things for both of them.

New music. New choreography. New jumps.

Sure, it was a small local competition which wouldn't even count towards their world standings or official best scores. But everyone has to start small.

Otabek felt that he had achieved what he wanted. First after the short program, he had just finished his free skate with no major mistakes. The audience, a comparatively small crowd as they were, seemed to enjoy his programs. But it wasn't the end of the competition yet.

Up next on the ice was Leo, last to skate. He had a solid skate the previous day, in part due to sticking to his triple jumps. He had landed his quad toe in practice earlier, but so had he during practices in the previous season. And yet, not once did he land it when it actually counted.

Competitor or not, watching someone break apart on the ice was never wholly enjoyable for him. And given the help he'd given Leo during their training, in a way he had hoped they weren't in vain either.

Music started to fill the building. There was his opening choreography, leading in to crossovers, gaining speed. Transitions into the set-up of the jump. Toe pick nicking into the ice -

_one two three four_

\- and it wasn't the most graceful position he'd done, knee bending so deeply you wonder when he'd stumble over. But he straightened back up – not the smoothest exit, but he was on his one landing foot, no touchdown, no turn-out, no step-out.

Otabek clapped along with the roaring crowd.

* * *

When Leo approached him outside the gymnasium, slightly out of sight of the crowd, medals around their necks, there were a lot of things Otabek thought he wanted to say.

 _Congrats on landing your first quad in competition_. Or, _Your program after that was a bit messy, but the choreo was still breathtaking_. Maybe just, _I'm glad I can help_. Or, _I have to thank you too for_ -

But all that faded on his mind when Leo placed his hands on his shoulders and leaned forwards to kiss him, no words said.

“..sorry for surprising you,” Leo said as Otabek stood frozen, wide-eyed in surprise. “I'm… a bit over-excited of finally nailing it, I guess. And I wanted to thank you for it, and...” his voice trailed off, his gaze turned down.

It was then Otabek's turn to tap on Leo's shoulder and return the gesture when he looked back up. Making sure the contact lasted longer than the first time, Otabek then pulled back and said, “I had to tank you for a lot too. For introducing me to a lot of new music, and helping me decide what to pick for my programs. And… just for being someone I enjoyed spending time with.”

After a pause, Leo stepped forward, putting a hand on Otabek's face. “...what if I say there's more I want to say thanks for?”

“You're welcome to even if you don't.”


End file.
